Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: You will find so many scriptures about the tongue. It's amazing because God has a message for us as believers even here tonight. We need to really be careful that the tongue doesn't put us in a place where it's going to bring and actually destroy our character and our witness as Christians before the world.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We're glad you've joined us for our continuing series in the book of James. Zeroing in on a very practical way to live out our faith, Raul will challenge us to be more intentional about guarding our tongues.

Our natural sinful nature can easily slip out in damaging words, but with God's help, we can build others up with the things we say rather than tearing them down. Let's join Raul now in the book of James.

Raul Ries: And now what he's going to do in verse two, he's going to talk about the actual tongue that has power to control. Check this out. Look what he says: "For we all stumble in many things." That is such a truth. How many of us stumbled today? We stumble in so many ways. There are different things that we do that actually bring a stumbling into our lives, and it affects our spiritual life.

It grieves the Holy Spirit of God. And yet, Paul says in Ephesians, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God." The word "grieve" is an interesting word in the Greek; it means, "Don't bring pain to the Holy Spirit." Why? Because the Holy Spirit is a person. He gets grieved. He gets hurt when there's cussing, when there's dirty language, or when there's abusive language going on. You can't bless the Lord and then five minutes later you're cursing because that's not right. God does not do that. It's our nature as humans, the old nature that we possess.

So here he's letting us know that whatever we say and whatever we do, we're going to reap to it. We need to be careful with the actual law of sowing and reaping. If you want people to treat you nice, then you have to treat people nice. Respect bears respect. At the same time, there are more people that disrespect and are always angry and saying malicious things to people, offending, rather than really saying things that are honorable and building up that person. That's why we really need to be so careful in the things that we say.

Watch what else he says here: "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in the word, then he's a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body." We all stumble in word. And again, here he's talking about the power and the control of the tongue. It's really offensive when we offend people's lives by saying things that we should not say. James tells us that we need to control our tongues. We need to be careful what we say.

Let's think before we speak. That's real important because many times when you're angry, you don't think before you speak. That's something that we all find within ourselves and that's where abusive husbands or abusive wives can be too. When you're angry at your husband or your wife or your children, out of anger, you say things that you can never take back. They do damage to a child's mind and to an adult, and we need to be careful of this.

So here James gives us some great advice for all of us. James gives the basis for what he has just said in verse one, that the tongue is the most difficult member of the body to control. Imagine this little member is the hardest thing to control. They train lions and gorillas and huge animals to submit to man, and yet James says no one can tame the tongue. That little member is such a powerful thing. Imagine that.

But look what he says. This is so good. We have all offended with our tongues at one time or another. Then he gives an illustration in verse three. Indeed, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. I remember in Colombia long ago, I liked riding horses in Colombia. This guy had a ranch and he had all these horses way back in the eighties. We went down there and he said, "You guys can have the horses, you guys can go riding."

I had never ridden a horse before. So I got on this horse and we all got on horses and they took us out into the country. All of a sudden, these black clouds came and there was going to be a big rain. It started thundering and those horses went crazy. They would not stop until they got to the ranch. I was pulling on the strap and they would not stop. They just wanted to get to that ranch. They knew where they lived.

But it was amazing because when we got to the ranch, as we pulled on the straps and they had that bit in the mouth, they stopped immediately. It controlled them. Here James is saying this little piece of metal that's in the mouth of the horse can control that wild horse immediately by pulling it. It cuts and stops it. And yet he's going to tell you that this little member of flesh in your mouth is so little and it cannot be controlled.

Think of the damage it does to people's lives. James is illustrating the powerful influence of the tongue by the practice of putting little bits into the mouth of the animal that controls that animal from going anywhere, to make them stop and to be submissive. Think how long God has been working on our tongues to obey and not to say things that we shouldn't say, but to really bless the Lord and people with our tongues.

He goes on again and notice what he says here in verse four. He says, "Look also at the ships, although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds." When I read this, it brought back memories on my way to Vietnam on the USS Gaffey with five thousand troops. We hit a huge storm in Okinawa in the Pacific. It was huge. Everybody was sick for three days. It was really bad. When you look at this huge ship with five thousand men going to Vietnam, there's this little thing that controls it, the rudder, he says, that's able to make it steer through the ocean.

Think about how amazing God is because he says again, "Look at the ships, although they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, they are all turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires." By being on the deck, the actual captain can turn it whichever way he wants to go. And yet the Bible tells us as we study God's word that there are different kinds of tongues.

There's a backbiting tongue. We can backbite people with our tongues and damage their character. Think how many people's characters have been damaged by people spreading false rumors. False rumors at work, in school, or in church, by people saying something they are not really sure of, that they just heard. Gossip. And they start backbiting that person. Proverbs 25:23, listen to Solomon: "The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue an angry countenance."

There are people that really want to ruin your character. They want to ruin your family. They want to ruin everything about you because they get satisfaction in their lives doing that. But I guess they haven't read the Bible about God's judgment and what God will do to them if they touch God's anointed, which is you and me and all of us here. If you're a Christian, you're God's anointed. You can't talk about people. It's a no-no in the Bible. All we can do is build up people, not talk about them.

How about a deceitful tongue? Lying and saying things that are not truth. The Bible says we should not do that. It's very deceitful to do that. And then a false tongue, one that falsifies things and people. There's also the lying tongue where people not only lie, but also he talks about a perverse tongue in Proverbs 17:20.

So if you go through the scriptures in the book of Proverbs and the Psalms, you will find so many scriptures about the tongue. It's amazing. I went through some of the scriptures and I couldn't believe how many there were. Because God has a message for us as believers even here tonight, that we need to really be careful that the tongue doesn't put us in a place where it's going to destroy our character and our witness as Christians before the whole world.

James is not only here giving us a second illustration on the influence of the tongue, and again he talks about this ship. I think of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, how huge those ships were, and that little rudder actually could control the whole ship. And yet here is the tongue.

Look at verse five now. The power of the tongue: "Even so the tongue is a little member." Here's the danger of the tongue: "And it boasts great things." Notice that. It has the capacity to expand. Notice the matters of the tongue. It can brag, it can lie, and it can do all this damage if we're not really careful. Go back to Proverbs 10:31: "The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out." The evil tongue will be cut out, the scripture says.

Then again in Proverbs 12:19, he says, "The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment." And then 15:4 says, "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." And then 21:23 says, "Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles." Guarding it, protecting it, and watching over it. Chapter 25 of Proverbs, verse 15: "By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaks a bone."

So you can go on and on and on in scriptures concerning the tongue. It's all over from Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation. And yet we see here that the word "boast" here is actually saying that it has the capacity to expand matters with the tongue. We have to be careful again in what we say.

Look what he says in verse six now: "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity." So here now he's going to tell us that the tongue is not only powerful, but it also is a fire. And what does fire do? It destroys and it burns. Have you ever seen those forest fires? Acres and acres and acres of land, millions are burned. And look what he says: "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body."

The whole body is affected by it. Notice that. The tongue can destroy people and their character. And listen, it can really put people under the grave. People can become depressed by the things you say to them. It can kill them. And it sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell.

You know what that word hell is? It's Gehenna, the lake of fire. Literally. He says the tongue is like the lake of fire when it speaks evil. Gehenna is an interesting place in the Valley of Hinnom. It was the garbage dump to Jerusalem, where they would dump all their trash and burn it. It was also the place we read about in the Old Testament. Remember the god Molech? The Hebrews were going down to the city dump and they had an image of Molech with his hands stretching out like this, and they would set their babies on top of the hands of Molech and barbecue them. They would burn them.

So we need to really be careful and we need to have integrity in our lives concerning this tongue. It's really something when you talk to people, especially little children that have those ears that are listening to all the conversations. Parents, be careful what you talk about in front of your children.

But here James had a real problem in the church. In his congregation, there were people that were abusing their tongues with their families, with friends, on their jobs, and even in the church. They couldn't get along with each other. They were literally coming against each other and saying things that they should have never said.

He comes back again and he says for every kind of beast or bird or reptile and creature of the sea is tamed by mankind. You go to SeaWorld and you see these huge fish and dolphins that are tamed. They can jump through loops and the guy can actually get on a whale and ride the whale. Imagine that. And then go underneath and come up as the whale jumps and that guy's holding on to that whale. That would never happen in the ocean; it had to be tamed.

So he keeps bringing nature in and he keeps bringing these illustrations in because he finds that the tongue is a real problem in the early church as it is today in the church too. A real problem concerning people's tongues. Again, now watch what he says. This is amazing: "But no man can tame the tongue." Here's the exhortation: "It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."

It kills. It kills peace, joy, love, and relationships. The tongue that is wicked. The tongue that doesn't have anything good to say is like a serpent spewing out poison. That has to cease. That has to stop. Here he is exhorting us. Only God can tame the tongue. Only God can do that. And I really believe by the empowering and baptism of the Holy Spirit, God can do it.

God can do it if you really want God to do that. Ask him to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. But be honest with him and say, "God, I have an unruly tongue." When we were in the world, we heard so much garbage. In the military, it was the same thing. But as Christians, we don't cuss anymore. We don't say those things that we used to say. Why? Because we bless the Lord.

We bless the Lord. We praise God. We don't tear down people; we build up people. That's what Jesus did. Because James says here that it is really a problem. It's unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Poison comes out and it infects the whole household. It infects everybody.

And then check this out, verse nine, another illustration from human nature. He says, "With it we bless our God the Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God." Isn't that beautiful how he brings that out? When you're talking to another person, remember he is and she is in the likeness of God when you insult them.

We either bless or we curse. The tongue is hypocritical because think about tonight, we're here in the presence of the Lord, we listen to the word of God, we just worshipped the Lord, and maybe on your way out of here something's going to happen where you're going to have to offend somebody. Sunday mornings, people come into the parking lot with their wives and their children, and I wonder how many of those husbands and wives are arguing in the car and saying things that are evil while the kids are in the back seat. And then you're going to put them in Sunday school and you're going to come into the sanctuary. We need to be careful.

But you know, it's cool when the Lord grabs a hold of your mouth and your tongue and he begins to really bring it into submission. Just like he says here: "With it we bless our God the Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. And out of the same mouth proceeds blessings and cursings." My brethren, Christians, this ought to never be so. He rebukes it. He says, "This should never be so. Stop it. Don't do it anymore."

Notice our sinful nature comes out of the tongue. What we used to be in the world should not be today as Christ Jesus is in our lives. With it, we build up and with it we tear down people. We should never do that, especially now that we know Christ.

And then he gives another illustration, it's real simple, verse eleven. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter water from the same opening? The answer is no. No possible way. Watch this. Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.

What is he saying? Watch your tongue. It's really important because once you open your mouth and you start blabbing and you start saying things, what's happening? You're either using knives or you're really building up that person. And if you're using knives, you're stabbing and stabbing and stabbing, and that person is being killed with those words. They aren't forgettable; they're not going to forget them. Oh, they might forgive you, but they won't forget those things you told them. You already did the damage.

And if tonight you find yourself in a real situation, in a problem in your heart with your tongue that is really damaging your marriage, your single life, your job, and everything around you, you need to go to the Lord and ask him to help you. But start by repenting. Ask him to give you a new heart and to give you a new speech, a new set of words of praising and worship and building up, and stop tearing down people and cursing people down. Real important.

Guest (Male): Well, no doubt we all have regrets about the things we've said in the past, but it's encouraging to know that God can help us bring our tongues into submission as we seek to honor him in our speech. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to hear today's lesson in its complete form, we'll be happy to send a copy to you for a donation of five dollars or more. Call us at 800-634-9165 and ask for Raul's teaching from James chapter three, verses two through twelve.

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